67 



died in a da}' or two without feeding, while the other fed freely in the 

 accustomed manner on the edges of the leaf. 



Everything considered, this is tolerably good evidence that, in spite 

 of the rarity of the beetle of this species in the field or the difficulty of 

 finding it in autumn, it does, at least occasionally and perhaps nor- 

 mally, issue from its burrows to feed before seeking a new place for 

 hibernation. 



ON THE HABITS OF THE SPECIES. 



The eggs are deposited singly in little oval or elliptical cavities meas- 

 uring about 2 mm. in width and 4 or 5 mm. in length, and constructed 

 in the stems at a depth of between 2 and 3 mm. beneath the skin. In 

 thin stems of dock the 

 egg is deposited loosely 

 through the hole made 

 by the parent beetle in 

 the hollow of the stalk. 



Egg deposit evidently 

 takes place by pref- 

 erence in the young !|$ 

 flower-stalks, but as it 

 is the custom of many 



~*v 



gardeners to cut these 



off early in the season, 



the beetle is forced to 



lay her eggs in other 



parts of the plant: hence 



it follows that eggs are 



quite as often found in 



the main stems, the 



crown of the plant, and 



even in the larger veins 



of the leaves. A great 



many more punctures are made in the stems of rhubarb, particularly 



early in the season, than are necessary for deposition of eggs. In the 



section of rhubarb stalk illustrated at fig. 16, taken from the field in 



early May, all of the punctures appear to have been made either for 



food or else the insect was deterred from depositing her eggs by the 



presence of too copious exudations of juice. 



In dock the egg punctures occur from near the bases of the stems 

 far toward the tops, and nearly always contain eggs or larvae. Dock 

 stems sometimes contain as many punctures as in the rhubarb stem of 

 the figure. Later in the year, even by the first week of June, eggs 

 are nearly as often found in rhubarb, particularly in the flower-stalks. 



The species of Lixus are long-lived, and it follows that oviposition 



Fig. 16.— Section of stalk and of leaf of rhubarb, showing attack 

 of. Lixus concavus — natural size (original). 



